We have bought many pieces from the Park West Galleries on board and have been very pleased with the quality and prices. We did research first. We have seen many ppl buy over $10,000 worth of art. Enjoy

I personally have no interest in this activity. However - I am amazed at the number of people who do take part so I assume there are good buys to be had especially if you have decent knowledge of what is offered.

Last year, I participated in the auctions and purchased three Kincades for $900.00 total. I have looked at his work for years and the same works at his gallery runs over $1200.00 each. That is why I hadn't purchased any until the auction. I got a deal.

__________________
Michael

Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

Courage and perserverance have a magical talisman; before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into the air.

Pick your company wisely! Hang around people who are going to help you become all God created you to be.

CA Cruiser is right - do your research first. I have purchased 5 pieces of artwork from the Park West auctions and have, in addition to their appraisals, had my own done by independant appraiser. On the 5, I bid a total, and won, for $1100 in total, I got an independant appraisal of $4500 in artwork. Add the frames to that and it goes up - I spent more on framing than what I paid for the artwork itself ($1500). I now have my artwork insured on a separate policy, and each year I will increase the value a little and update the policy. Your insurer will want copies of appraisals and framing invoices.

You need to know a little about what you are bidding on, but the auctioneers give you good information about each piece. Make sure that you question them at the preview event - they will provide good information.

When a mystery auction comes up, bid on it - you are not obligated to purchase. But if you like the deal, then you can get some great deals. On my cruise last month, one of the mysteries was Peter Max for $5200 - what a steal!

Also, if you see something you like, and are outbid, and you decide you want it, go to the gallery later and tell them which one and that you want it at the closing bid. They will sell it to you at that price.

Thank you! I am still a cruise virgin (not cruising until September) and I didn't know if this was an art auction with well known names, or the type of art sales they have at hotels, you know? Thank you so much! I will definately want to go now. Exciting!

Park West operates the art auctions on most cruise lines (but not Princess, for some reason), and they are reputable. Like others here, we've bought some pieces that appraised for 2x or 3x what we paid for them. Some come with frames too, that are worth a fair amount.

You should be able to browse the art in advance, determine what you might like, and then get to the auction early to talk to the auctioneer about what they might ask for it versus what it might appraise for.

We've gotten a Peter Max, some Kinkades, and some other stuff by artists whose names I cannot remember. Another nice thing turning up at art auctions are "animation cells", actual colored cells used to animate cartoons such as Bugs, Mickey, etc. Those are great, especially if you get ones signed by the (now dead) artists such as Hanna, Barbera, etc.

Here is a tid bit in dealing with Park West at Sea on the Freedom of the Seas. Also do a search on Park West through google and you'll see some other info.
pabrady 13,

Park West tried to ripp us off for $10,672 by providing a false receipt with the same exact signature we used on our original purchase.

We have all the evidence. They convinced our credit card company that they have the original receipt somehow, but park west didn't count on us not losing our receipt.

Citibank's lawyers are saying we have to sue Park West and they cannot do anything for us since it already went through their dispute process and they found in favor of the company. They cannot help us any further.

Park West has lied to Dallas Morning News and Citibank and we have proof of that as well. We set up a web site which will go live in a month if no further reponse or unconditional credit is given from Park West.

This fraud has to get national and international attention which we are planning for by a web site and contacting embassies because we think they are targeting us because we have foreign names.

So essentially we made a $880 purchase and we got the same exact receipt back with different line items & totals. The two original items were there, but there are two additional paintings added, one above $6k and the other above $4k.

They've made many mistakes along the way and we've caught them in every single lie. We are filing with the three states they do business in through the attorney general's office.

They offered a non-disclosure agreement and our money back, but the document stated we purchased the paintings and we did not like them. Any conditional agreement not on our terms will not be accepted. They have had the opportunity to return the money back to the credit card since the beginning.

The biggest problem is no one cares for the little guy. Park West doesn't know what's going to hit them this year. It's going to be interesting to see their reaction.

Lawyers don't touch it because they say it will cost $30k to take Park West to trial because they are a delaware company based in Michigan, doing business out of Florida in International Waters where no business law exists. Even if they did, the best of best lawyers in Dallas won't guarantee anything.